ESPN: Time for NFL to Embrace Marijuana

In the latest issue of ESPN Magazine, sports writer Howard Bryant offers his opinion on pain management in the National Football League and why he believes that the league has an opportunity to lead and open a discussion about medical marijuana as sports therapy.

An excerpt:

But what was illegal yesterday may be legal tomorrow. And because football players deal with pain management more acutely than athletes from other sports, a more virtuous and forward-thinking approach for the NFL would be to stimulate discussion of marijuana use. This is a league in which the locker room culture still demands that athletes play through it all. And given that marijuana is a legitimate pain reliever -- especially for the migraines that can be a byproduct of head trauma -- and is far less dangerous and potentially addictive than, say, OxyContin, it is almost immoral to deny players the right to use it.